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In a couple of months, Carper adopted ITIL's methods and launched a new system using service management products from BMC Software Inc. The result: a stronger help desk. "Following these best practices has made this department more responsive, efficient and accountable," Carper says. "I am not exaggerating when I say it is like a different place, and I think our users would agree."
Coldwater Creek and Cascade Designs exemplify the great opportunity and special challenges of ITIL adoption in the midmarket. While hardly anyone disputes the value of embracing these best practices -- over the past few years, firms like General Motors and Pfizer Inc. have adopted ITIL -- anecdotal evidence shows that midmarket firms don't always have the wherewithal to do so.
Philosophizing about improvements in service management is fine; implementing them is another story. There are several reasons for this reticence. For starters, making changes in conjunction with ITIL can be expensive and time-consuming. There are also dozens of other IT management methodologies on the market today (see "Alternate Frameworks," below).
Still, some consultants say ITIL is worthwhile. Chip Gliedman, VP of customer service at research firm Forrester Research Inc., says that getting acquainted with these service management guidelines will ultimately make IT services among midmarket firms more efficient. What ITIL does for a midmarket company, Gliedman says, "is create a sense of regular behaviors." That standardization can be the difference between a company "that's losing money due to waste" and one "that's doing everything in its power to make IT a profit source."
Alternate Frameworks |
The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) isn't the only compendium of best practices for IT. Here are some other popular frameworks:
Here are additional approaches to service management:
- The Enterprise Computing Institute's library, which covers general issues of large-scale IT management.
- The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, which developed the Framework for ICT Technical Support (FITS) that's slimmed down for schools and small IT departments.
- The Microsoft Operations Framework, which is based on ITIL but defines a more limited implementation.
- ISO/IEC 20000, the first official international standard for IT service management, which is often applied in conjunction with ITIL. The standard comprises 10 sections and contains specific instructions for planning and implementing service management and for planning and implementing new or changed services, relationship processes, control processes, and resolution processes. (The standard was first published in December 2005; a second iteration is due out this year.)
--M.V.
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